IndiGo, one of India’s largest air carriers, is facing mounting criticism after it cancelled thousands of flights recently that stranded passengers throughout the country. The airline is said to operate on a regular basis about 2,200 flights a day but has been facing pilot shortages after it failed to adapt to the new pilot rest and duty rules introduced by the government early last year.
The airline said on 7 December that “following the recent operational disruptions, IndiGo confirms that we are establishing further significant and sustained improvements across our network. The first step to this was taken yesterday, today next steps have been taken on this with lesser cancellations and a higher on time performance. Also, cancellations were made at an earlier stage, allowing us to inform our customers timelier.” The airline said its teams were working “relentlessly to stabilise operations”. It also said that on Sunday it was “on track to operate over 1,650 flights, up from (around) 1,500 yesterday”. It also claimed its on time performance was 75 percent, up from around 30 percent on Saturday.
The airline said it had “growing confidence” that operations would be stabilised by 10 December and issued “heartfelt apologies to all our customers”.
Mass cancellations of flights amid the busy travel season have caused a public outcry, forcing the government to intervene. The airline has been granted exemptions from the new rules, but the disruption has continued, with more than 600 flights cancelled on Sunday.
Starting on December 2, IndiGo flights were delayed and later cancelled due to apparent pilot shortages. Flight disruptions were recorded in Mumbai, Hyderabad and other cities. On Friday, at least 1,000 flights were cancelled in one of the worst aviation crises in India, according to news reports. Former AirAsia CFO Vijay Gopalan blamed IndiGo’s “very, very lackadaisical, nonchalant attitude” in adapting to the new rules as a reason for the crisis, according to a media report.
The government has ordered a high-level inquiry to determine the reasons and accountability for flight disruptions. Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu blamed IndiGo for “mismanagement regarding their crew”, adding that other airlines were prepared for the changes. IndiGo has been exempted until February 10 from the requirement to cap the weekly number of landings for a pilot between midnight and early morning. It has also been exempted from the pilots’ flight duty time. The Airline Pilots Association of India has, however, protested the exemptions, saying the rules “exist solely to safeguard human life”.
On Saturday, India’s aviation watchdog, the DGCA, sent a letter to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, warning him of regulatory action amid flight cancellations. “You have failed in your duty to ensure timely arrangements for conduct of reliable operations,” Reuters reported, quoting DGCA official Ravinder Singh Jamwal. The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday also announced capping of airfares to control the surge in ticket prices due to a breakdown in IndiGo’s flight services.
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